“Now what?”

Well, your initial answers to these questions are not that important. It’s impossible to give yourself the right answers, so don’t worry about getting things right.

Especially difficult questions like: “What am I bad at?”

What’s more important is to practice your thinking muscle with those questions—just givean answer (don’t say “I don’t know”).

Now comes the most important part: Use that information to improve your life. You do that by reasoning.

Aristotle called it ‘logos’ (different from the Stoic definition of logos).

Historian Paul Rahe explained Aristotle’s definition of logos best:

For Aristotle, logos is something more refined than the capacity to make private feelings public: it enables the human being to perform as no other animal can; it makes it possible for him to perceive and make clear to others through reasoned discourse the difference between what is advantageous and what is harmful, between what is just and what is unjust, and between what is good and what is evil.

To me, self-awareness is (1) the ability to translate your feelings into words and (2) to give it meaning.

You’re trying to uncover about yourself which things are advantageous and which things are harmful.

“And then what?”

Double down on the advantageous stuff and start eliminating the harmful stuff (as far as possible).

Do more things that make you happy.

Do more things that you’re good at.

Avoid things that make you unhappy.

Avoid things that you’re bad at.

That’s it. That’s knowing yourself.

One thing: Don’t take this process literally. For example, relationships can make you both happy and sad.

That doesn’t mean you should avoid relationships altogether. But rather avoid the thingsthat make your relationships bad—things like selfishness, lying, lack of empathy, etc.

“But how do you practice logos/reasoning?”

Become neutral in discussions with people. Don’t just try to prove a point. Always try to reason from different points of view.

Journal, and follow through on your thoughts. Always ask yourself why? For example: John made me mad. Why? Because he lied. Why? Because he didn’t want to upset me. Why? Because he cares about me. Conclusion: John is an idiot who should learn that lying is not helpful.

Talk. Talk. Talk. With friends, colleagues, mentors, coaches. Just by vocalizing your feelings, you discover new things about yourself. Especially when you talk to people who ask questions that make you think.

There you go. That’s my process for self-awareness. Introspection is difficult because you must be honest with yourself. And most of us prefer to lie because the truth is scary.

But since I’ve practiced self-awareness consciously, my life has improved massively. Knowing yourself makes living easier.

Will this exact process work for you? I don’t know, but what I do know is that this could be a start. And that’s all you need to become more self-aware.